Guideline Development

AHTA plays three roles with respect to the development of clinical practice guidelines:

1. Selected staff act in an advisory capacity, on behalf of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), to external developers, assisting with the development of clinical practice guidelines. To date this has involved consultancies on the development of:    
                  
   • Guidelines for the management of diabetic retinopathy (Diabetes Australia)
   • Best practice pathway for the management of acute and chronic whiplash-associated disorders (TRACsa)
   • Patient blood management (National Blood Authority)
2. Staff conduct systematic literature reviews for the purposes of clinical practice guideline development. This involves working with a group of clinical experts to formulate clinical questions, search for the evidence to address those questions and synthesise the data to provide answers and guidance for health professionals.
   
   AHTA have developed, or is currently undertaking, clinical practice guidelines on:
   
   
   • Management of type 2 diabetes mellitus: secondary prevention of cardiovascular risk.
   • Management of type 2 diabetes mellitus - prevention, indentification and management of foot complications.
   • The management of acute/subacute soft tissue injury to the low back, on behalf of TRACsa and Workcover SA.
   • Depression in adolescents and young adults, in collaboration with beyondblue.
   • The treatment of adults with acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder, on behalf of the Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health (ACPMH).
   • The use of recombinant and plasma-derived Factor VIII and Factor IX products, on behalf of the National Blood Authority (NBA).
3. Individuals provide methodological guidance to the NHMRC to assist with the revision of standard approaches or processes of guideline development. This includes formulating a revision of the NHMRC evidence hierarchy and developing a system for grading recommendations.